Honoring those who served

It’s Memorial Day weekend. Monday is Memorial Day. Today is as good a time as any to remind people why we celebrate Memorial Day.

The holiday should be celebrated, but it also is a solemn reminder of those who we have lost fighting for our freedom.

Our great nation has lost many in the wars over the years and this weekend we take time to remember them and all the brave acts they performed.

Every family in the Lowcountry can boast of members who have answered the call to duty by serving in our armed forces. And on this weekend we should also gratefully salute those who live every day in harm’s way to defend us. There are plenty of young men and women still in Iraq and Afghanistan who we miss dearly each and every day.

Locally, there are a couple of events on Monday to mark Memorial Day. These include:

• Sun City Memorial Day ceremony at 10 a.m. Monday in the Pinckney Hall parking lot.

The Sun City Veterans Association will welcome Army Major David Blanchard from the HHC Brigade, Hunter Army Airfield during the ceremony.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the troops leaving Vietnam. More than 50,000 Americans were killed in Vietnam. By 1969, at the peak of U.S. involvement in the war, more than 500,000 U.S. military personnel were involved in the Vietnam conflict.

• Memorial Day parade and ceremony at 10 a.m. Monday in downtown Beaufort at Rodgers and Boundary streets.

There will be a ceremony at the Beaufort National Cemetery after the parade.

We encourage participation in these activities.

If you just decide to enjoy time with friends and family on the holiday, please be sure to take time to remember why we have Memorial Day and those who we lost. It matters.

Among the outings and cookouts, remember the reason for this particular holiday. Let us each pause, perhaps more than once during this long weekend, to honor with gratefulness and appreciation the spirit and sacrifice of the fallen.

Such a debt can never be fully paid, but we can honor their memories with exemplary citizenship and the promise in each of our hearts that we will never forget them.

Memorial Day weekend is a time to honor the memories of the servicemen and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for us.

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